The Fjnomenal Fjord Horses of Norway

What has stripes on its legs and an upright mane like a zebra? The answer is the Norwegian Fjord Horse, (pronounced "fee-yord" but compressed to a quickly spoken "fyord"), a short but very strong breed of horse from the mountainous regions of western Norway that is also known as "Vestlandshesten" (the horse of the western country). It is one of the world's oldest and purest domesticated equines with a long recorded history of no crossbreeding with other horses.

It is believed that the ancestors of the Fjord horse migrated into Norway from central Europe over 4000 years ago. It bears a striking resemblance to the horses painted on cave walls 30,000 years ago. Archeological excavations at Viking burial sites indicate that herds of wild Fjord horses existed in Norway after the last ice age. It also appears that they were domesticated over 3000 years ago, and that they were selectively bred for at least 2,000 years. The Norwegian Fjord horses were an important part of Viking society, and may have been part of the founding stock for breeds like the Icelandic horse, as well as native Celtic ponies in Britain, or vice versa.

Fjord Horses of today retain many of the color characteristics and primitive markings of the Przewalski or Mongolian Wild Horse, from which many believe they are descended, but the Fjord is rather like the European wild horse, the Tarpan, which is now extinct in its natural state. The Fjord Horse could not have descended from the Przewalski Horse since the Przewalski has 66 chromosomes, and the Fjord and Tarpan have 64.

Every Fjord Horse exhibits the "wild" dun color of the ancestral horse as well as primitive markings which include zebra stripes on the legs and light feathering on the hocks along with dark or striped hooves. A distinct dark dorsal stripe runs from the forelock down the neck and back and into the tail. The ears have dark edges and transverse stripes may also be seen over the withers. Norwegian Fjord Horses maintain the hardiness and vigor of their wild ancestors with efficiency of feed conversion, maintaining excellent body condition on good pasture alone as well as on sparse grazing.

Today, it is one of the national symbols of Norway and the tourist industry uses the Fjord horse as a representative of Norwegian culture. Fjord horses carry tourists back and forth to the breathtaking waterfalls and glaciers of Norway's scenic countryside, and are part of any tourist package in Norway that includes horses. The Fjord horse appears on the civic crests for many regions of Norway and was also represented at the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer as a cultural ambassador--along with two other native Norwegian breeds, the Døle horse and the Northlands horse--drawing carriages that transported competitors and celebrities to the different activities.

All breeding in Norway is controlled by a Norwegian government agency, Norges Fjordhestlag and Norsk Hestesenter (NHS or Norwegian Horse Centre) Exportation of Fjord horses is carefully controlled to ensure that only champion stock leaves the country. The Fjords now have registries in Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden. Approximately twenty-two Fjords have been imported to the United States, most of them in the middle 1950's. Since 1981, the Fjord breed has been tracked in the U.S. by the Norwegian Fjord Horse Registry (NFHR) and in Canada by the Canadian Fjord Horse Association (CFHA).

Fjords generally range in size from 13.1 to 14.2 hands and weigh between 900 and 1,200 pounds. Technically, the Norwegian Fjord horse should be classified as a pony, but they are always referred to as horses in Norway and so the trend has continued world-wide. The extraordinary power for their small size enables Fjords to be used for all types of riding, driving and draft work.

The gaits of the Norwegian Fjord horse should be energetic, with good balance and cadence with sufficient elasticity to perform an effortless walk, trot and canter. The trot is energetic, but excessive action is not considered typical for the breed.

The extremely gentle disposition of the Fjord Horse, their cool temperament, curious, active character, loyalty and overall versatility, both under saddle and in harness, make them the ideal family horse. When properly trained, they will do any task.

One of the most unique characteristics of the Norwegian Fjord Horse is the naturally growing upright mane. A dark, usually black, dorsal stripe runs through the center or core of the mane, while the outer fringe hair is cream or white. The forelock on mature horses covers from one half to two thirds of the head. This two-toned mane is a unique characteristic rarely seen on other horses with dun coloring. The mane kept trimmed between 4 to 6 inches in a characteristic crescent shape to emphasize the curve of the neck, and to ensure that it will always stand erect even when wet. The lighter outer hair is then trimmed slightly shorter than the dark inner dorsal hair to display the dramatic dark stripe down the center, which runs all the way down the spine and into the core of the tail.

Horizontal zebra stripes may occur on the legs and are most noticeable and numerous on the forelegs. They are the same color as the midtstol, but are of a paler shade and tend to be more visible during the summer. They may be indistinct or missing from pale horses. They may also be missing in grå horses, whose legs may be of the same color as the body, or darker up to the knees and hocks. Foals are born without zebra-stripes, but after the baby coat is shed out, that is when the stripes will appear, if they are going to appear at all.

Sometimes there are small brown spots on the body, for example on the thigh or cheek. Occasionally there may also be dark zebra-like stripes across and at right angles to the withers.

White markings are not common in Norwegian Fjord horses and aside from a small white star on the forehead, they are considered undesirable. IN fact, at the 1982 meeting of Norges Fjordhestlag it was decided that stallions and colts with other white markings can’t be licensed.

At the end of 1800's the Norwegian Fjord Horse nearly died out, though the reason is unknown. Today’s horses all descend from a single surviving stallion, Njal 166, who was born 1891. In genetic terms he is known as a founding stallion. His genes have influenced the development of the entire breed as we know it today and are in all living Norwegian Fjord Horses.
Because so few individuals survived whatever calamity befell the breed, the genetic diversity of the breed was severely reduced, and some alleles were lost altogether, possibly including the AA and At alleles of the agouti locus. The breed went through what is called a genetic bottleneck, when the wild-type allele at the dun locus seems to have been lost, so that now all Norwegian Fjord Horses are dun. In this breed the dun allele therefore is the only allele at the locus and is said to be fixed (i.e. its frequency is 100%).

Color variations between the 5 duns are subtle and hard to distinguish unless horses of different shades are standing side by side. The color terms are non-standard compared to English terminology, the difference being based in part on the Norwegian terms, which were set in 1922 and their English translations which were made official in 1980. In the Norwegian (Norsk) language, the darker stripe of hair in the middle of the mane is called the "midtstol", while the darker hair in the middle of the tail is the "halefjær".

Brunblakk is the most common color. In 2005, 90% of all registered Norwegian Fjord Horses were brunblakk. Rødblakk is the equivalent of red dun. It can be difficult to tell the difference between a brown and a red dun. Rødblakk foals may be born with white hooves that darken over time. Although grå means gray in Norwegian, grå dun horses are actually black dun horses, or occasionally smoky black dun (i.e. black with both cream and dun dilution). Grå is not the conventional gray that causes graying over time, but they range from pale silver gray to dark slate gray. Ulsblakk is the equivalent of buckskin dun. Originally ulsblakk was the most common color of registered Fjord horses and was also called borket, but its popularity waned due to the production of kvit foals when ulsblakk horses were bred together. Gulblakk is the equivalent of palomino dun and the rarest colors of all. Kvit is the equivalent of cremello or perlino dun. It is a rare color due to intentional selection against it, and they glass (blue or wall) eyes. The color could be produced by crossing gulblakk with either ulsblakk or gulblakk; or by crossing two ulsblakk horses together.

In spite of the small gene pool, the only genetic fault reported in the Fjord horse was a condition that was observed in the 1980's known as hereditary lethal arthrogryposis (muscle contracture). It was observed in female foals that were all sired by a stallion named Bingo. This stallion was quite normal in appearance but the defective foals were born with contracted legs, extra limbs and jaw defects including cleft palate and parrot mouth. It has not been a problem in recent years.


About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.

A Splash of White Gives This Paint Horse a Dash of Flash

The American Paint Horse has often been erroneous referred to as the Pinto, but in fact, the two words have different meanings. The Pinto Horse Association (PHA) is a color registry, and Pintos can be any breed, but Paints are American Paint Horse Association (APHA)-registered horses that can prove parentage from one of three approved registries: American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), the Thoroughbred Jockey Club (JC), or the APHA, as well as meet a minimum color requirement. While a painted horse could be double-registered if it met the breed standards specified by each registry, the registries are independent. However, the Paint is a recognized breed only in North America. In other parts of the world, it is only considered a color or a type of horse. There are still some judges in the show ring that are prejudiced against colored horses, especially in the English disciplines, but this opinion is declining slowly.

The origins of the colors in the Paint Horse in North America can be traced back to the two-toned horses introduced by the Spanish explorers, descendants of horses from North Africa and Asia Minor, Inevitably, some of these colorful creatures escaped to create the wild herds of horses that roamed the Great Plains, from which the American Quarter Horse is also derived. When the American Quarter Horse Association first started in 1940, colored horses, or those with excessive amounts of white were not allowed to be registered, but these painted foals were usually born to all-Quarter Horse parents that had almost no white at all.  They became known by the AQHA as "crop-outs" and were sold without papers.  Soon, so many colored horses had been born that their owners decided to start up their own American Paint Horse Association to have someplace to keep track of all the well-bred crop-outs.  Up until recently, all crop-outs from the Quarter Horse breed were sent to the APHA, but the rules have now been changed to allow all crop-outs with Quarter Horse parents to be registered with the AQHA, no matter how much white they have. Since 1962, the APHA has grown from a registry of 3,800 horses to more than a quarter of a million horses worldwide today and is now the second largest equine registry in the United States based on the number of foals registered annually.

The term "Paint" lumps together different types of spotting, and at least four major spotting patterns are included within the Paint breed: tobiano, overo (frame overo), or tovero, sabino (calico overo) and splashed white. Each pattern can occur separately, or they can occur in all the different possible combinations. The basic coat color can be white, black bay, brown chestnut sorrel red roan, blue roan, bay roan palomino cremello, perlino dun, grullo, buckskin, or gray, but superimposed over these colors are the following spotting patterns.

The "tobiano" pattern has head markings that may be completely solid, or have a blaze, stripe, star or snip of white. Generally, all four legs are white below the hocks and knees. The spots tend to be regular and distinctly oval or round and extend down the front of the neck and chest, looking somewhat like a shield. Usually a tobiano will have the dark color on one or both flanks and the tail is often two colors.

The "overo" pattern has bold white head markings such as a bald face. Generally, one or all four legs will be dark. The body may also be either predominantly dark or white, but the white will not cross the horse's back between the withers and the tail is usually one color. They Overos generally have irregular, scattered markings. The tail is usually one color. Frequently overos have one or two blue eyes, or a partial blue eye.

The "sabino" pattern, within the overo category, is sometimes called "calico overo". This pattern consists of white on the legs and head, and it usually creeps up on the body in the form of belly spots. Sabino is usually flecked and roaned although some are very crisply spotted. Sometimes sabino horses have blue eyes.

The "splashed white" pattern is much rarer than the other three. Horses with this pattern have white legs and stomachs, as well as a large amount of white on the head. The edges of the white are quite crisp. Many splashed white horses have blue eyes.

However, not all Paint coat patterns fit neatly into these categories, so the APHA expanded its classifications to include the tovero pattern to describe horses that have characteristics of both the tobiano and overo patterns. Additionally, some breedings will not produce these patterns, but instead the foal will be a solid color. These Paint-Bred (formerly referred to as Breeding Stock) horses are still of the Paint breed, they just lack the flashy color.

The American Paint is usually recognized the same way as the Quarter Horse -- by a short muzzle, broad forehead with a straight profile and large jaws. It has small fox-like ears and large, wide-set eyes. The neck has a slight crest. Their backs are short with good withers and a sloping croup.  The barrel is deep with well-sprung ribs and the hooves are well-rounded, with deep open heels. The walk, trot, canter, and gallop are the American Paint Horse’s natural gaits.

As for disposition and personality, like the Quarter Horse it comes from, this horse is the most willing, laid-back, quiet and even-tempered of all the breeds, and has a gentle nature. They are quick and agile, level-headed and sensible, sure-footed and steady with good stamina. Intelligence, reliability, adaptability and willingness to please their owners makes the American Paint Horse very easy to train in all ways. The breed seems to have an innate “cow sense” and can anticipate the moves made by cattle which makes them indispensable for herding and cutting.

The American Paint breed suffers from a genetic oddity known as "Lethal White" in which a pure white foal of overo breeding may seem normal at birth, but usually begins showing signs of colic within 12 hours because of a non-functioning colon. Because the syndrome is always fatal, lethal white foals are often euthanized. Overo is believed to be a dominant gene with lethal effects in the homozygous state. Since there has been no successful homozygous overo stallion yet to date, whatever causes homozygosity in overos may be linked to lethal white syndrome. More research is being done in this area and genetic testing is available since 25 percent of foals from two overo parents could be lethal whites.

Additionally, since Paints have Quarter Horse pedigrees, another genetic oddity known as Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis (HYPP) may turn up, along with Parrot Mouth and Cryptorchid conditions. HYPP is inherited as a dominant trait and is characterized by intermittent episodes of uncontrolled muscle tremors (shaking, trembling or twitching) or profound muscle weakness, and in severe cases, may lead to collapse and/or death. To date, HYPP has been traced only to descendants of a horse named IMPRESSIVE, #0767246 who may be in some Paint pedigrees.

And with such a close tie-in to the Quarter Horse breed, the American Paint Horse is also a very versatile equine with uses ranging from racing, herding, and rodeo, to show jumping, dressage, carriage and pleasure riding.


About Crystal Eikanger
Crystal Eikanger is a freelance writer, web designer, video editor and voice talent working as Ei-Kan Productions on www.rentacoder.com as well as other freelance sites. www.HorseClicks.com is a popular website filled with classifieds of horses for sale, horse trailers, tack, and horse related properties.